Fan construction



July 12, 1 949. c. L. MOORMAN FAN CONSTRUCTION Filed June 28, 1945 Patented July 12, 1949 Es rmzsnr :;o FFICE Moorman, Millington, Ill., assig-nor to bestos .84. Rubber Company, a corpora v Charles L.-;- m Union As ..iion,of Illinois Application-June 28, 1945',:SeriaINoc602g04'7 5 .Claims. 32.1 This ;invention relates:to,;.fanreconstruction and wme e particularlyetc efanseforgusein railway refriserator (z slandthelikeitomaintain a circulation-- .of: air ,therethrou h.

ne of thewqbjec iofythepinven a acons ructionvwhich.occu ies a minimum space for; a giyenxcapacity andwhich can coni-xzv nient soebe;mountedtbelow thesurface of the mlad n racks-in wear.

Another qbiectrzis-to pro ho el-housinglcanrbe:utili m-qsupportingmthe ilading racksu-or to, form a apart of theglading: supportingrsurface. 1 .Tovthis end the housingds:preferablymade substantially rectangularlgvtolprovide atflat upper surface and has its sideszreinforcedyto provide the necessary strength.

- Still anotherobject is to provide, a ianconstruction in which air is guided into and out of the hl1SlI1g;La.lldi the" housing is reinforced by vertical fins on the housing at the oppositev sides of the inlet and outlet openings.

I ;1Still another object is toqprovide a;-fanconstruction in which the fan blades are shrouded to increase struction, the fan blades; are widened at their ends ,and are, partially encircled. by curved: shlDllding means which extends over the widened end portions of the blades.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a partial plan view of a fan construction embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation looking outlet openings; and

Figure 4 is a partial section on Figure 3.

The fan construction comprises an elongated housing which is preferably formed of sheet metal rectangular in section having a flat horizontal top H] and vertical sides H. A base l2 on the housing may be welded or otherwise suitably secured to the sides II and preferably extends beyond the sides as seen in Figure 2. One of the sides I l is formed with a series of inlet openings l3 and the other side is formed with a series of outlet openings H! which are staggered with respect to the inlet openings l3.

In order to reinforce the housing and to guide the air properly into and out of the outlet openings vertical fins l5 which may conveniently be zed as abeam to assist into the the line 4-4 of tion is to provide; 5 upwardlyas seem-in- Figure 2.and;ser ve both. to

vide a fan. construction 5 tively small space 12 3 nei di he fi utchber conne ed to aldrivins theirefliciency. In a preferred conip lle3kr0f.,:a yx d5 ed1ty he sides I l to beintegral theren ,the opposite sides of the ppositeeds s of heiin t The fins preferably taper crunc e .outf omr With-p are: f med- .0

housing adjacent the and outlet openings.

t iprovidezguiding channels for the air flow and to rstiffenland strengthenthe sides of thehousing.

-Whenthe .hou p ng is installed in a railway ear, the; upper flat=surface -lll thereof preferably :lies flush with. the upper. surface of the lading racks in-,;the:car:so, that thehousing forms in efiect a ;part ofrthe. lading supporting surface. Thelading-,iracks 1 may also; ifdesi-red; :be: secured to. the .-\housin t e supp rted thereby. Inqth saway therentire fan mechanism is; mounted in aarela- {below -the Llading. supporting :Surfacednthe can and either forms apart ofor assists in 1lpportingtheladinaracks.

Within the housingqan elnngated shaft llit is ni umalled on. ;.snac d:pi1low .b1 c s I 3 th s ft lrpreferamyv zextendin :1:.comp y ough ;;the housing. The, shaftis adapted to be: driven by any suitable :meansshowmas a;driving pulley; l8

Theshaft supports :cwi hin th ho s n s awplural tv of vse l t ian lib ad se Q'whichextend su stan al y ra ia y ou ward from the shaft. As shown in Figure 2 the blades are carried by blocks 2| which are adapted to be clamped to the shaft. It will be noted that each of the sets of fan blades lies opposite an outlet opening I4 so that the inlet openings l3 communicate with the spaces between the sets of fan blades.

As best seen in Figures 3 and 4, the fan blades are relatively narrow adjacent the shaft and flare outwardly to wider portions at their tips. The widened outer portions of the blades arepartially enclosed by a shroud 22 in the form of a relatively thin sheet metal strip which as seen in Figure 2 extends from the upper end of an outlet opening l4 around the tips of the fan blades to the base of the housing substantially at the vertical center of the fan. Throughout at least a portion of its length each of the strips 22 is bent inwardly, as indicated at 23, to overlie the widened tip portions of the blades partially to enclose them.

In operation the shaft 16 may be driven to rotate the fan blades so that they will draw air in through the inlet openings I3 and discharge it tangentially through the outlet openings l4. Air entering through the inlet openings flows axially into the sets of fan blades and is caused to flow along the blades and tangentially out of the outlet openings as will be undersood. The

shrouds 22 and the inwardly extending portions 23 thereof greatly increase the efiiciency of the fan blades so that relatively large fan capacity will be provided in a relatively small space. These shroud strips are simple and inexpensive to construct and can easily be installed in the housing being held therein by friction alone or by any desired type of fastening means.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not intended as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fan construction for railway cars and the like comprising an elongated housing having staggered inlet and outlet openings in its opposite sides, a shaft extending longitudinally through the housing, a plurality of sets of substantially radial fan blades carried by the shaft in register with the outlet openings, and the housing being formed with outwardly extending fins at the opposite sides of the inlet and outlet openings to guide the air and to reinforce the housing.

2. A fan construction for railway cars and the like comprising an elongated housing having staggered inlet and outlet openings in its opposite sides, a shaft extending longitudinally through the housing, a plurality of sets of substantially radial fan blades carried by the shaft in register with the outlet openings, the sets of fan blades being open at their ends for flow of air axially into them from the inlet openings and for tangential discharge through the outlet openings and integral upwardly tapering fins extending outwardly from the housing at the opposite sides of the inlet and outlet openings toguide the air and to reinforce the housing. I

3. A fan construction for railway cars and the like comprising an elongated housing substantially rectangular in section adapted to be supported on the floor of the car, the housing being formed in its opposite sides with a plurality of staggered inlet and outlet openings, an elongated shaft extending through the housing, a plurality of sets of substantially radial fan blades on the shaft opposite the outlet openings, and outwardly extending fins on the housing at the opposite sides of the inlet and outlet openings to guide the air and to reinforce the housing.

4. A fan .construction for railway cars and the like comprising an elongated housing substantially rectangular in section adapted to be supported on the fioor of the car, the housing being formed in its opposite sides with a plurality of staggered inlet and outlet openings, an elongated shaft extending through the housing, a plurality of sets of substantially radial fan blades on the shaft opposite the outlet openings, and curved shrouds in the housing partially encircling the sets of fan blades throughout approximately half of their circumference to leave the outlet openings open and extending inwardly at their edges over the outer end portions of the fan blades.

5. A fan construction for railway cars and the like comprising an elongated housing substantially rectangular in section adapted to be supported on the floor of the car, the housing being formed in its opposite sides with a plurality of staggered inlet and outlet openings, an elongated shaft extending through the housing, a plurality of sets of substantially radial fan blades on the shaft opposite the outlet openings, each of the fan blades being relatively narrow adjacent the shaft and flaring out to wider portions at their outer ends, and curved shrouds in the housing partially encircling the sets of fan blades throughout approximately half of their circumference and extending inwardly at their edges to overlie the wider portions of the fan blades.

CHARLES L. MOORMAN. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,889,895 Henshall Dec. 6, 1932 1,906,533 Burke May 2, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 450,322 France Jan. 16, 1913 

